


rules keep us safe (protected (loved))

by AngeNoir



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dom/sub, M/M, Pre-Canon, University, underage: Tony is 16 and James is 20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 15:35:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4840880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngeNoir/pseuds/AngeNoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James is really just trying to find his missing sub. They have <em>rules</em> about these kinds of things, but Tony has never been good at following rules.</p><p>It drives James half mad, but maybe he can get this through to Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	rules keep us safe (protected (loved))

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Saeva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saeva/gifts).



> I'm not quite sure if this matches your "settling Tony down in college" but I hope it gets close.

“Your bitch is out of control, Rhodes!”

James grinned, a wolf-grin that slashed across his face. “Now, Stone, just because you’re upset that Tony figured out your little game and shoved it in your face and didn’t fall for it even when completely trashed doesn’t mean you need to be bitter about it.”

Stone bared his teeth at James. “You call yourself Stark’s dom, well, what the hell are you waiting for? Act like it!”

“The interesting thing, Stone,” James said, voice diamond-hard, “is that I don’t call myself Tony’s dom. _He_ calls me his dom, and until you figure out what the difference is, well, I figure you’re not exactly going to have much luck with getting a sub to stay with you, ever.”

A weight crashed into James’s side and he looked to see Tony, drunk as a skunk and giggling. “Hey, hey Rhodey, hey sugar, what’re you doing? Why’s Ty here? Hey, can we go?”

James curled an arm around Tony’s shoulders and rubbed a thumb against Tony’s bare shoulder. Tony, of course, was dressed shockingly, like normal, wearing a pretty-much-backless and entirely-sleeveless silver, shimmering tank top that bared his midriff, and black, tight leather pants flaring around sandals. Glitter dusted around his cheekbones and kohl lined his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot, and there was a nervous energy in his hands that made them shake, the cheap plastic cup in his hands spilling liquid over his hand and wrist. James let out a sigh.

Tony had snuck off of campus to go to this party. James had gone looking for him, and at least he had found him. Some nights, he couldn’t even manage that much. This was more by chance; he had known that Tony had been working with another RA, Stone, in the lab, but when he’d went to collect Tony, the both of them were gone. Luckily, Stone was easier to track than Tony was.

“We can go,” James murmured. “See you around, Stone.”

“Maybe you ought to teach that bitch a proper lesson, before he does something he’ll regret!” Stone growled.

And while James wasn’t going to take advice from Stone, of all people… Tony had a tendency to treat people as if they were so much lesser than him. He was careless and tactless, so focused on his own work and projects that he often forgot everything James told him. Tony had picked James, that much was true. James admired and loved the brilliance of Tony, the sharp energy of the young man, but he also tried to temper Tony, to ground him. To make him _see_ people for what they were, not as what they were useful for.

So yeah, James wasn’t going to take Stone’s advice ever, but he was definitely going to have a talk with Tony when they got back to their room.

As it was, Tony leaned on James and wrapped arms around James’s middle, giggling as they walked across the street and back towards MIT. “Rhodes, Rhodey, honeybear, you came! I dressed up for you, see? Do you like it?”

“It’s the middle of the week, Tony,” James sighed. “We have rules about this. Don’t we?”

Tony blinked at James, eyes slow and sleepy. “We do?” he said, voice as slow as his blinks. “I – yes. We do?”

James sighed. They’d have to have this discussion tomorrow morning; Tony was drunk and weaving on his feet, supported only by James’s body. It took them a bit longer than normal for James to maneuver them across Boston and to the dorms, but when they finally got there Tony stumbled into their room and then turned around, looking adorably confused and a little constipated. James figured he was trying to be seductive.

“Go to bed, Tony. We’ll talk in the morning,” James said tiredly, closing the door behind him.

Now, it was seeming to sink into Tony’s soused mind that there was a problem. Frowning, Tony reached over to James. “Rhodes – Rhodey, sweetie, baby, what’s – what’sa matter? What’d I – why?”

James shook his head. “Not tonight. You’re having this conversation with me sober, Tones. Let’s get into bed.”

With a kicked-puppy look, Tony dropped his hands and then clumsily fumbled at his leather pants’ lacings.

James let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “Man…” he sighed, stepping over to Tony and gently undoing the laces and positioning himself so Tony could lean on his shoulders as he peeled Tony out of the pants and then untied the straps of Tony’s gladiator sandals that were laced up his calf.

“Ty said you’d like the pants,” Tony mumbled under his breath, wobbling a little as he moved from one foot to the other at James’s gentle guidance. “Don’t you like them?”

James looked up at Tony and let out a soft chuckle. “They’re hot, babe. But this wasn’t the time.” He patted the back of Tony’s bare thigh and then stood up, undoing the straps behind Tony’s neck and lifting the thin, shimmery tank up and over Tony’s head and arms. Now Tony only wore a shockingly red thong, swaying a little. Before doing anything more with Tony, James pulled off his coat and his shirt, undid his pants and toed off his boots so he was in nothing but his boxers, and then he took Tony’s hand and tugged him over to the bed.

“Mmm.” Tony flopped down onto the bed and nuzzled into the pillows. “Y’r th’ best, Jim,” he mumbled.

With a sigh, James shook his head – all that glitter was getting everywhere, but hell, it wouldn’t be the first time – and slid into bed behind Tony, tucking the smaller male against his chest and curling an arm around Tony’s middle. Tony muttered under his breath and turned in James’s arms, pressing his nose against James’s collarbone and breathing in deep.

James let a thumb rub against the small bumps of Tony’s spine and felt his eyes grow heavy.

Slowly, he slipped into sleep.

***

He woke up to a pleasant feeling pressed against his groin, and he hummed a little, dragging his hand down Tony’s back, cupping his ass gently.

Then he remembered last night, and he paused. Carefully, he moved his hands and moved Tony’s hips back, putting space between himself and Tony. “Tones,” he murmured. “We have things to talk about.”

There was a cessation of movement, and then Tony let out a hoarse sigh, tried to clear his throat. “Hoped that was just me being drunk,” he grumbled, voice still pretty high for a teenager.

“Mmno,” James muttered, blinking open his eyes and staring down at Tony’s smudged eyes and resigned expression. “You look like a raccoon. Why don’t you clean yourself up a bit, now that you’re more coordinated?”

With a grumble, Tony clambered over James’s body and out. Once Tony exited the room and closed the door behind him, James turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

Tony was never gracious at accepting punishments, not once. James was sure it had something to do with his family, but Tony always tried to make himself look to be in the right. It took a lot to make him acknowledge his mistakes – and that making mistakes wasn’t the end of the world. He didn’t have any morning classes, though Tony did – but Tony’s first class didn’t require attendance. James didn’t want to delay the punishment any later now, because it was important to link the punishment to the crime, and because Tony was, in fact, easily distractible and easily forgot things, especially if he thought it wasn’t a major infraction.

Sighing, he sat up and dragged out the box from under the bed.

When the door opened, Tony in his bathrobe standing in the doorway, James was sitting on the bed, his chosen punishment and method lying on the mattress next to him. Tony’s eyes flickered over to it and there was something akin to relief in his eyes.

Deciding he could ask later about it, James stood up and walked over to Tony, reaching out to gently close the door and then put his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Can you miss today’s morning classes?”

“Y – yeah, I can.” Tony swallowed, eyes darting back over to the bed, and now James was worried he’d misread the situation.

“Remind me of your safeword, Tony,” he murmured.

Biting his lip, Tony mumbled something.

“No, I need to hear it, Tony. Your safeword.”

Tony’s shoulders tensed a little, but he said, clearly even if quietly, “Jarvis.”

“Right. You can safeword out any time, Tony. You know that, right?”

Slowly, Tony nodded.

“Why do you think I have these out, Tones?” James asked, keeping his voice gentle and calm, rubbing his thumbs over the knobs of Tony’s shoulders, trying to relax the tension in Tony’s frame.

“I wasn’t good. Last night,” Tony said, voice stilted.

James hesitated, and then decided to further clarify his position. “Going to parties, dressing up – that’s not bad, Tony. I liked it, liked you like that. But we’d agreed on something, do you remember? What are our rules together?”

Tony frowned, blinking and seemingly less terrified and more confused. “Rules? Our… oh.”

“Mmm,” James murmured. “What are our rules, Tones?”

Tony licked his lips. “Tell each other where we’re going. No over indulgence during the weekdays. And tell each other what we want and what we don’t want.”

“Yeah,” James said softly. “What rule did you break?”

Tony rocked back and forth on his heels, eyeing the bed again, and tapped the fingers of his right hand against his thigh. “I didn’t tell you where I was going.”

“That’s right,” James said, standing up. “Now, you made a mistake, so we’ll handle your punishment and then that will be the end of it, got it? But you have to tell me where you go, and when you go.”

“I just – Ty asked me if I wanted to, and I forgot but I didn’t even go very far! I was just a few streets over!” Tony stepped forward, spreading his hands. “I – it was an accident! I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again!”

“I know,” James sighed. “But we’re going to do this, here and now, and work together to keep our promises. Okay?”

“I don’t see why we have to,” Tony grumbled, but when James gave him a look, he sighed and began taking off his robe, revealing nothing underneath.

James nodded approvingly, and then motioned to the end of their bed. “Bend over the footboard and hold on to the mattress.”

Tony eyed the instruments lined up on the dresser underneath the window and James could hear him muttering to himself. It took a bit, to get Tony over the initial resistance, and James knew Tony hadn’t been abused – hadn’t had a steady dom until James himself, really – but still, sometimes he wondered what others had said to Tony that made him so resistant to actually subbing. Once James got Tony over that initial bump, Tony fell hard and fast, and it worried James somewhat.

Still, it helped Tony, it sent boundaries, and it kept James from becoming too terrified about Tony and Tony’s activities, so win-win all around.

When Tony had complied, ass arched up because of the angle and fingers fisted in the sheets of the unmade bed, James selected the heavy paddle and eyed the other implements. He’d gotten them out because he thought he needed them, but he was adjusting his plan slightly. He might still use the crop, if only because of the lovely patterns it made and the contrast of the type of hurt, but the whip and the clamps were unnecessary today, and while the cock cage was something he’d wanted to try for a while, he actually didn’t think he should use it as a punishment for this.

Nodding to himself, he turned back to Tony and said quietly, “I need to hear again what mistake you made.”

“I didn’t tell you where I was going,” Tony said sullenly.

“Rules are there to protect us, to make our relationship stronger,” James said, running a hand over the smooth skin of Tony’s ass, making him jump a little. “When we break them – me or you – there need to be consequences. Once those consequences are over, they’re over. I’m going to give you ten with the paddle and five with the crop. You’re going to count each one, correctly. Clear?”

Tony nodded.

James pinched the sensitive skin near Tony’s perineum and Tony yelped. “Are we clear, Tony?”

“Yessir, clear,” Tony said immediately.

“Good boy,” James murmured, and almost instantly cracked the paddle against Tony’s ass.

“One! Sir,” Tony gasped, rocking forward a moment before his shoulders straightened and he braced himself against the mattress. James nodded approvingly but didn’t say anything. The next hit was softer, more a warming than anything, against one cheek – and the next one after was on the other, bringing a flush to the Tony’s skin.

By the tenth, Tony was gasping, but he’d not lost count once, had counted each one out and added sir on the end of his count, and was squirming a little in place. James set the paddle down and picked up the crop.

This brought a fiery red welt to Tony’s skin and had a startled sob pushing out of Tony’s chest even as he brokenly said, “Eleven, sir!”

Another harsh crack, and Tony’s muscles quivered, shook. “Twelve, sir!”

By fifteen, Tony was swaying, his knees starting to buckle. James set the crop down and poured some lotion into his hands. “Ass up, Tony,” he said warningly, and Tony valiantly tried to lock his knees, pushing his ass back up and out.

The first touch of the lotion made Tony gasp, and it didn’t do anything to ease the muffled sobs Tony was trying to hide in the mattress. This part was the part James hated, because Tony liked spanking, liked impact play – as evidenced by his erection – so to make sure this was a punishment and not just foreplay, he couldn’t cuddle Tony yet, couldn’t soothe the hurt too much. Instead, he put just enough lotion over Tony’s skin, in as impersonal a manner as possible, before stepping away and wiping his hands clean on a towel. Then, he picked up the blindfold. He considered the earplugs – but he knew Tony. Tony didn’t do well on his own at all, needed to know someone was there for him. Removing his sense of hearing might happen if he needed to punish Tony for this particular rule again, but for now, he ignored the earplugs and walked back over to Tony who was draped over the footboard of the bed.

“To try and make the lesson stick, remember what we did last time?”

Tony didn’t answer, and James gently reached down to Tony’s flushed and tear-streaked face. “Color, Tony.”

“Green, sir,” he gasped out.

“Good boy,” James murmured, and then stroked his fingers against Tony’s cheek. “Remember what we did last time?”

“Corner,” Tony mumbled. “Timeout.”

James nodded. “But we’re going to do it a little differently this time. I’m going to blindfold you, and this time it’ll only be three minutes, not five. Do you understand? I need a verbal answer, Tony.”

“I u-un-understand, sir,” Tony stuttered.

Gently, so carefully, James slid the blindfold over Tony’s puffy eyes and then lifted his beautiful sub up and set him down in the corner by the door. “Three minutes. I’ll be right here, Tony, but you need to sit on your own for three minutes. What’s your safeword?”

“Jarvis,” Tony mumbled, voice shaky.

“You say that if it gets too much. Otherwise, three minutes.” James stood up, and saw the aborted jerk of Tony’s hands as he tried to keep James by his side. Then Tony’s hands clenched at his sides and he angled his head on the ground.

James walked back over to the other side of the room, making enough noise so that Tony knew he was still there. He was anxiously checking the clock himself – last time had been five minutes, but Tony could see James, and James had hypothesized the reason Tony had been so bratty during and even after that punishment was because Tony had felt like a child instead of a sub. With his sight taken away, it was less a child’s punishment and more a punishment designed for Tony, something that would shake Tony a little but not too much.

The seconds seemed to stretch for hours, and James busied himself at the desk, opening a book and pretending to read. He couldn’t, though – his eyes were glued to Tony, to his nervous rocking and fingers clutched against his thighs, the slight tremble in his shoulders and his too-quick breathing. He felt like he should check in, ask Tony’s color – but this was supposed to be a punishment, where he left Tony alone for three minutes. If Tony needed to safeword out, he knew what to do.

Two minutes in, Tony croaked, “Yellow.”

Immediately, James was across the room and next to his side, pressing close so that Tony could feel his heat even as he gently placed his hands on Tony’s face, stroked soothingly. “I’m right here, Tony. What do you want to change? What’s going on?”

“Too – t-too quiet,” Tony said, stumbling over his words. “P-please sir, I need – you’re here, right? You’re here?”

“I’m always here for you, Tony. Your punishment is to sit quietly, alone, for three minutes. You only have one more minute to go. Can you wait one more minute?”

Tony gnawed on his lower lip a minute before breathing in shakily. “Yes. Yessir. I can – one more minute. I can.”

James pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Attaboy, Tony. Good boy.” He ran a hand down Tony’s back, gently cupped the still-hot flesh of Tony’s ass. “My good boy. One more minute.”

He took a step back, but this time he didn’t go over to sit at the desk; he stood perhaps three or four steps away from Tony, eyes locked on his watch, and when those last sixty seconds trickled away, he murmured, “Such a good boy for me. Take off the blindfold, baby. You’re done.”

Tony’s hands jerked up to the blindfold and pulled it up and off his head, teary eyes immediately lighting on James’s figure. James put his hands out, welcoming, and Tony stumbled to his feet and fell into James’s arms with a sob.

“There, my beautiful boy. My good boy,” James murmured. It was always a shock to him, to know how much he suffered along with Tony. He wasn’t a sadistic dom in any sense of the word, even if he knew how to use pain and punishment to teach lessons and improve the relationship and the interactions between him and Tony.

“’m sorry, Rhodey, ‘m so sorry, I’ll be careful, I’ll let you know before, okay, I’m sorry,” Tony babbled, and James carefully picked Tony up, carried him to their bed. Tony’s erection was flagging, and he laid Tony down before pressing small kisses over the lines of Tony’s cheekbones and the bridge of his nose, quieting Tony’s babble.

“It’s okay, baby,” James murmured. “You did so well, Tony, so perfect for me. Do you want to come, baby? Do you want me to suck you off?”

Tony curled up into a small ball, tugging a little on James’s hand, and James figured they could both sleep; they’d likely wake for lunch anyway, and even if James slept in, he could get the notes from one of his study group later in the evening. Crawling into bed, he murmured more praises as he stroked his hands over Tony’s sides and legs, settling himself as well as Tony down.

Last night, Stone had said that he needed to control Tony, but that was pretty much the opposite of what James wanted. Tony was strong and independent, and Stone was bitter that Tony had chosen a scholarship kid to be his dom instead of a society member like Stone himself. He’d probably convinced Tony James wouldn’t mind letting him relax – true – and that Tony could surprise James – and that was the false part. But it was over, and done with, and the thing that Stone would never understand was that James and Tony were happy with each other the way they were. Their relationship worked, and James had all the proof he needed snoring lightly in his arms, sweaty and clinging like a baby octopus.

Smiling, he closed his eyes, pressed his face against the top of Tony’s head, and fell asleep.


End file.
